NHL.com will periodically be doing a series called "Five Questions With …," a Q&A with some of the key movers and shakers in the game today aimed to gain some insight into their lives and careers.

This edition features San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan:

Todd McLellan played five NHL games, all with the New York Islanders, in a career shortened by injury. He scored a goal in his debut at New Jersey, dished out an assist in his second game against the New York Rangers, and was part of a victory -- his lone victory -- in his third game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan says his team needs to 'look each other in the eye' and decide if it has what it takes to contend for the franchise's first Stanley Cup. (Photo: Getty Images)

That was it.

McLellan's last NHL game as a player was April 3, 1988 at Boston. He went back to the American Hockey League the following season, suffered recurring shoulder injuries, retired and never played again in North America.

Seventeen years later he returned to the NHL as an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings. It took him three seasons of running the Red Wings power play to get noticed and hired by San Jose.

After retiring as a player, McLellan went on a coaching odyssey that took him to a foreign country, through the Western Hockey League, into the International Hockey League and eventually the American Hockey League. The path helped shape him into the coach he is today.

How did it happen?

NHL.com will periodically be doing a series called "Five Questions With ...," a Q&A with some of the key movers and shakers in the game today aimed to gain some insight into their lives and careers.

This edition features Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff:

For the past 14 seasons Lindy Ruff has been steering the Buffalo Sabres down what can only be described as an unpredictable path.

Lindy Ruff, who has led the Sabres for each of the past 14 seasons, feels extremely fortunate to be a part of the tight-knit Buffalo community. (Photo: Getty Images)

Ruff, who was brought in shortly after Buffalo hired general manager Darcy Regier in the summer of 1997, took the Sabres to the Stanley Cup Final in 1999 and won the Presidents' Trophy in 2006-07. Buffalo has made four appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals under Ruff, but none since 2007.

Ruff, 52, has also survived several ownership changes, team payroll fluctuations, key defections via free agency and three playoff-less seasons since 2008.

Today, Ruff is 44 wins shy of 600 and working on a multiyear contract extension he signed after the 2010-11 season. This would be his 25th season in the Sabres organization, including 10 as a player from 1979-89, and despite his appreciation for the community he said he still hasn't been allowed to get too comfortable.

Why is that? Well, you have to read on.

Here are Five Questions With ... Lindy Ruff:

NHL.com periodically will be doing a series called "Five Questions With …," a Q&A with some of the key movers and shakers in the game today aimed at gaining some insight into their lives and careers.

This edition features Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien:

While maintaining a steady pace to stay ready for the start of the NHL season, Boston coach Claude Julien also has kept close tabs on what is happening throughout the Bruins organization.

As he prepares for a one-day stint coaching a local youth team, Bruins coach Claude Julien reflects on some of the challenges he's faced and the adversity he's overcome in his career. (Photo: Getty Images)

He has traveled the short distance to Providence, R.I., to check out the Bruins' American Hockey League team, the Providence Bruins. Julien went on a scouting trip with Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli to see some of the Bruins' junior-hockey prospects. He continues to show up to the office at least four days a week to work out and go over strategies they plan to implement when the players return.

And Sunday, Julien who has won a Memorial Cup and a Stanley Cup, will get a chance to keep his coaching chops fresh by getting back behind the bench to lead a local youth team that won his services as part of a charity raffle drive to benefit the Boston Bruins Foundation and minor hockey programs in the area.

Julien's one-day job as coach of the Winthrop, Mass., Squirt B team was not the reason NHL.com approached him for this Q&A, but it's as good a place to start as any.

NHL.com will periodically be doing a series called "Five Questions With …," a Q&A with some of the key movers and shakers in the game today aimed at gaining some insight into their lives and careers.

This edition features Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau:

Bruce Boudreau is poring through video of old games and taking down notes as he watches them as a way to keep himself busy and somewhat fresh during the ongoing lockout.

Boudreau told NHL.com he just finished watching a handful of Ducks games from 2007 and some of his old games with the Washington Capitals. He even watched a few Vancouver Canucks games.

Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau was born and raised in Ontario, but is adjusting well to his new lifestyle in SoCal. (Photo: Getty Images)

Anaheim's coach isn't looking for anything specific, but instead is taking note of things like slow line changes just to make sure that when his Ducks players return, he will have some important coaching points to go over.

Boudreau also is helping to coach his 14-year-old son Brady's teams at the travel and high school level in Anaheim.

Speaking of high school hockey, Boudreau and his coaching staff also recently held a seminar for coaches from the 14-team Ducks High School Hockey League, along with coaches from the Junior Ducks program, the Lady Ducks Orange County Hockey Club and Anaheim ICE.

They presented an hour-long video and held a question-and-answer session with the group of about 50 coaches, including ex-Ducks players Craig Johnson and Dave Karpa, both now coaches in the Ducks High School Hockey League.

The always opinionated and never shy Boudreau also gave NHL.com some time out of his day to participate in our own Q&A series to answer questions about living the Southern California lifestyle, being away from the East Coast, old friends, new friends and a familiar role.

NHL.com will periodically be doing a series called "Five Questions With …," a Q&A with some of the key movers and shakers in the game today aimed at gaining some insight into their lives and careers.

This edition features Calgary Flames coach Bob Hartley:

One thing for certain is the Calgary Flames hired a coach over the summer who knows what winning feels like. That's step one for a team that hasn't made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2009.

Bob Hartley has four championship rings with four different teams in four different leagues.

Hartley's crowning achievement was winning the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001, but he also led Laval to a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League title in 1993, the Hershey Bears to the Calder Cup in 1997, and last season went to Switzerland to guide the Zurich Lions to the Swiss National League A title.

Oh yeah, Hartley also won four straight Northwest Division titles with the Avalanche from 1999-2002 and led the Atlanta Thrashers to the Southeast Division title and their lone playoff appearance in 2007.

Hartley is a winner, and his goal is to bring a championship to Calgary.

Before he gets that chance, he spoke with NHL.com to talk about why he went to Zurich and what he learned there, his coaching style, his desire to be back in the NHL and the challenge ahead of him with the Flames.

NHL.com periodically will be doing a series called "Five Questions With …," a Q&A with some of the key movers and shakers in the game today aimed to gain some insight into their lives and careers.

This edition features Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford:

Only Lou Lamoriello can say he's seen more games as the general manager of his franchise than Jim Rutherford has with his.

Rutherford arrived in North Carolina with the Hurricanes in 1997, three years after he took over as the president, GM and part owner of the franchise when it was known as the Hartford Whalers. He has been Carolina's steady hand ever since.

Rutherford has overseen the evolution of the Hurricanes from an infant in a non-traditional hockey market, playing its home games 90 minutes away from the center of its fan base in Greensboro, N.C., to a thriving, Stanley Cup-winning franchise located in the state's capital city, boasting a strong following and an abundance of young, talented, marketable players.

NHL.com periodically will be doing a series called "Five Questions With ...," a Q&A with some of the key movers and shakers in the game today, aimed at gaining some insight into their lives and careers.

This edition features Los Angeles Kings general manager Dean Lombardi:

Winning the Stanley Cup certainly hasn't mellowed Dean Lombardi.

For nearly 45 minutes Tuesday afternoon, Lombardi, who was asked only five questions during the entire interview, discussed with passion various topics. He barely took time to catch his breath.

He talked about his research into the histories of how teams fare in the season after they win a championship. Lombardi discussed his hands-off approach with Kings coach Darryl Sutter, his own emotions both before and during games, what he perceives to be the hardest part about being a general manager in the NHL today, and what he's learned from his father-in-law, Hall of Fame player and coach Bob Pulford.

Lombardi, always talkative and never lacking an analogy, compared Sutter to Stonewall Jackson, the Kings of today to the San Francisco 49ers of the 1980s, and, on several occasions, reaffirmed his belief in what he learned from Lou Lamoriello and Bobby Clarke when he was a young general manager.

NHL.com periodically will be doing a series called "Five Questions With…," a Q&A with some of the key movers and shakers in the game today, aimed at gaining some insight into their lives and careers.

This edition features Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville:

Joel Quenneville has two Stanley Cup championship rings separated by 14 years. In between winning the jewelry as an assistant with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, Quenneville won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the St. Louis Blues.

The rings and the coach of the year award highlight Quenneville's nearly two-decade career behind the bench in the NHL, but further evidence of his longevity comes in the form of various other numbers.

NHL.com will periodically be doing a series called "Five Questions With…," a Q&A with some of the key movers and shakers in the game today aimed to gain some insight into their lives and careers.

This edition features Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman:

When Steve Yzerman decided to trade in his stick and skates for a briefcase and dress shoes, he did so with an eye on consistently feeding the competitive spirit that drove him to play 22 Hall of Fame seasons for the Detroit Red Wings.

Six years later, Yzerman has won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Red Wings' front office, guided Canada to an Olympic gold medal in Canada as the team's executive director -- and now he's in the process of rebuilding the brand of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

NHL.com will periodically be doing a series called "Five Questions With…," a Q&A with some of the key movers and shakers in the game today aimed at gaining some insight into their lives and careers.

This edition features New Jersey Devils coach Peter DeBoer.

New Jersey coach Peter DeBoer is quiet, yet intensely competitive; unassuming, yet supremely confident.

This is a coach who never lost faith in himself or his philosophy after three failed seasons with the Florida Panthers; a coach whose systems and beliefs helped change the reputation of the New Jersey Devils last season to that of a team ferocious in its forecheck and fearless in its pursuit of the puck.